Starting its life as an attack transport in World War II — and one of the last five left afloat by war's end — the USS Queens saw action at Iwo Jima and other hot spots in the Pacific theater. After the war, the ship became the SS Excambion, one of the "Four Aces" of American Export Lines. In 1965, the versatile Excambion underwent yet another transformation — into a floating classroom.

Recommissioned as the USTS Texas Clipper, the ship began a third life as a merchant marine training vessel with its home port in Galveston. Finally, the Texas Clipper, was designated to be sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef to provide habitat for marine life. Now, 136 feet below the surface, the venerable Texas Clipper lives on as the home to a wide variety of underwater species.

Join the Houston Maritime Museum to learn facts about the ship's construction, service record, crew procedures and voyages as well as lively anecdotes from crew members, passengers and officers.